Guides to Culture in Brazil for the Traveler

The next time you're munching pancakes to mark the beginning of Lent, suck on a lemon and remember that Brazil celebrates the occasion with a five day party featuring and rampant sexuality. 'No one belongs to anyone during carnival', as they say in r Brazil, and this perhaps explains why so many children are born around Christmas in Brazil, nine months later.

Brazil is enormous, almost the size of the USA if you don;t count Alaska and the diversity of culture shows. To travel in Brazil and understand what you see you need to get your head around some of the main aspects of Brazilian culture.

The following are culture guides for the traveler in Brazil that will help you navigate some of the stranger aspects of life in the largest country in South America.

Guide to Cocaine in Brazil - And you thought coke was only for the rich and famous? News for you, in Brazil it's a poor man's drug.

Favela Guide - The community squats up on the hill in Rio de Janeiro. Travel one step further.

Brazil Beach guide - The tiniest bikinis in the world.

Samba and racism - A guide to cultural and racial divisions in Brazil

Brazil Travel Stories - Gringoes.com offers a range of Brazil tales. A little fluffy but in good spirit.

Rio de Janeiro guide - Ipanema.com is a cool, sexy site that gives you the lowdow on carioca culture.

Lonely Planet Brazil - Of course there's always the LP perspective.

BBC Brazil Profile - A sober look at the history, society and economy of the country